Almost a year-and-a-half after its unveiling at the 2005 Sydney Motor Show in Australia, Holden’s Efijy concept makes its North American debut at the Detroit auto show, where, despite being one of the oldest and least relevant cars on the floor, it is indisputably one of the coolest.
Built on C6 Corvette underpinnings and powered by a supercharged, 640-hp 6.0-liter LS2 V-8, the Efijy draws its inspiration from the 1953 Holden FJ, the Australian equivalent of the 1955-57 Chevy, and pays homage to both the car’s original designers and the generations of Australian hot rodders who have made the car a design icon.
The jaw-dropping Efijy is remarkably faithful to the original 1953 Holden design, being nearly indistinguishable as a new car and not a 50 year-old hot rod. The grille is wider, the fenders more exaggerated and muscular, and the nose flatter than the classic car’s, but the most radical departure from the thousands of customized Holden FJs cruising Australia is the shapely greenhouse that sweeps seamlessly into the trunk and the pointed tail, flanked by polished exhaust tips that belong under glass at Tiffany & Co. Massive solid wheels measuring 20 inches up front and 22 in the rear keep the car just off the ground.
The interior of the car is equally flawless, rendered in soft beige leather and screaming eggplant paint matching the exterior. Peer through a steering wheel—that is itself a small miracle—at the large, monocle speedometer at the bottom of a chrome well. Next to the speedo is a large dash vent sculpted, as the pedals are, of billet aluminum. Other than that central vent, the interior is remarkably free of clutter, as all functions are managed by a drop-down LCD screen concealed mid-dash that deploys just above the push-button transmission.
Other than showing that passion lives and breathes in GM’s Australian subsidiary, the Efijy is just a car company most Americans have never heard of giving itself a pat on the back for a job well done; but nevertheless, the opportunity to see this car in person is one not to be missed.
